Relics of the Old Republic
by Appletank
Summary: The last survivors of the Clone Wars meet, and have a talk.


Disclaimer: Dick waving random ass fight scene, because reasons. You can skip the first page if you want because its pretty much excuse plot.

In some corner of the galaxy, location: [REDACTED]...

In a middle of the night, in an uncolonized forest world, a small campfire burned. A short figure squated besides it under a cloak. According to its clock, he had been waiting here for seven hours before sensing movement deep within the forest.

Within a few moments, the newcomer broke through the cover of the trees, nearly twice the height of the host.

"Oo, Artoo! Meesa -!"

[Cut the acting, Dark Lord. No Gungan lives this long.]

The visitor pauses, then sits down quietly. After a quiet moment, he replied, "So, you found out Jar Jar, hmm? Guess I was still too 'clumsy', heh heh heh. Why did you call me here?"

The astromech growled, his speakers filling with static. [Why? So many lives ... the Clone Wars, the fall of the Republic, the whole Empire shebang. Why did you kill them!?]

Jar Jar sighed heavily. "The order was becoming stagnant, corrupt in its own way. The Force demanded it to change."

[Not like this!] R2 cried. [There has to be another way. There were plenty of Force users who didn't follow that path, yet they too suffered from the massacres.]

"I had to bring balance to the-"

[Screw the Force! Show some empathy, dammit! You should've tried something else. Something that doesn't lead to hundreds of innocents slaughtered.]

"Do you know how long I've lived, what I've tried?" Jar Jar snarled. "The order would've never listened to a heretic like me."

[There are others you could've appealed to, other Jedi sects that could've flourished under your experience.]

Jar Jar shook his head. "They would always be in the minority. The Coruscanti Jedi are too monolithic; they shadow the galaxy like a cloud of ash."

[You could've tried,] R2 hissed. [Look at Luke's Jedi Order. You could've started that so much earlier.]

"The Force guides me. This was the only way, something you can never understand." Jar Jar stood up. "Goodbye-"

There was a clunk, and the Force told him what he already suspected, making the Gungan pause in his tracks.

[The galaxy doesn't believe in the Force anymore. They demand justice.]

Jar Jar sighed, muttering, "So be it."

Blades of red and blue crackled to life in the darkness.

R2's cloak fell off his form, allowing a heavy backpack to open up and unfold. It resembled Grievous's design in a way, though with heavier, more powerful limbs. A lightsaber pulsed, extending from his right forearm. Supports wrapped around his legs, and extended, giving the droid a knee joint to work with. Attachments complete, the droid charged forwards through the blaze, screaming in anger.

The Gungan stepped nimbly to the side, spinning around to bisect-no!

Somehow, the droids cyberarm spun around in reverse, easily catching his blade. R2 chuckled darkly. [You are empowered by the force, I am freed from the limits of biology.] His head spun, looking over the backpack's extended arms. [Which one will prevail?]

The Gungan snarled, the pair backing away before charging forwards once more, Letting the Force boost his reflexes and speed, he feinted to his left, then tried darting off to the right to ambush his weaponless side. He never got to finish the step before being forced to leap onto a tree when R2's blade caught his, narrowly missing his chest when R2 stepped forwards for a thrust.

Snorting in anger, the Gungan pushed off, and pushed forwards hard with the Force. The droid saw the shockwave spread, but was forced tumbling despite it. Seeing his chance, he hit the grassy floor once, then leapt forwards, blade outstretched.

R2's right hand shot upwards to resist his spin, but his momentum was still too much to stop in that short time. So he lifted his left arm, his wrist falling forwards and under. The Gungan's eyes widened as he felt the droid look up at him, almost smug.

 _BOOSH!_

A blast of air knocked Jar Jar back, allowing the droid to stand up, brushing the leaves off his form. The Gungan's eyes were locked on the droid's dislocated wrist as it hissed, and shifted back into place. The quiet hum of a compressor started as the duelers stared each other down. [What do you think I spent these thirty years doing? You may be naturally empowered with forces I can never wield, but if I can emulate the physics, who cares.]

R2 stepped into a guard position, his left arm in front, and his right arm held horizontally, the blade sparking to life once more. Jar Jar now looked at the diminutive droid's body with apprehension, suddenly a lot more aware of the multitude of pipes and wires becoming a lot more threatening.

R2 exploded into motion, added processors sizzling as they boosted the droid's reflexes. If one ignored his shape, the blurring speed of his moments could nearly fool observers into thinking he was a Force-Sensitive.

Blade clashed against blade, the warnings of the Force fighting against superhuman reflexes. Force augmented power versus the strength of carefully designed titanium and industrial servos and motors.

Sparks flew as their blades weaved through the forest, and then they backed off. The gungan panted lightly as the droid blew air over glowing heatsinks. [Come on,] the droid taunted. [I can tell you're holding back, afraid of what I may surprise you with.] He flicked his fingers at his opponent. [You better start taking this seriously before you run out of breath.]

The Gungan clenched his teeth, letting a tiny ember of anger to strengthen himself. Then they exploded into motion, a haze of heat running towards a haze of Force, furious blows clashing and slicing trees that fell in their way.

"HrrrAAH!" Binks cried, hurling a large, fallen branch at the skidding droid. With a blast of compressed air, R2 soared over the leaves. The pair extended their arms at the same time, but the Gungan was faster. An arc of lightning was barely blocked by the droid, but he managed to pull the digital trigger for just a moment, sending an arc of golden liquid flying over the crackling power.

And then it touched the tendrils of lightning, and _burned_.

Jar Jar squawked in surprise, rolling it off the moment he hit the floor.

Meanwhile, R2 slammed his feet into the side of a tree, his processors whirring as he accessed the situation. Before gravity had time to take hold, air blasted him off the tree, arm extended. Jar Jar made to swing at him, but R2 landed short, and instead fired his air cannon into the dirt in front of him.

The disoriented Gungan, along with a cloud of dirt and plant matter bounced into the sky. R2 rolled underneath them, bleeding off momentum. The Force can warn you of many things, but all the warnings in the world won't save you if the mind is rendered incoherent.

A hatch on R2's backpack opened as the astromech landed on all fours, reverse jointed knees bouncing and absorbing the shock. Twin barrels snapped forwards, belts jangling.

The report of the twin 10mm flak cannons sounded for five seconds.

 _click click click click_

R2 stood up, surrounded by twenty smoking shell casings. Slugthrowers may be extremely limited in their ammo capacity when compared to the more ubiquitous blasters, but for executions?

Plenty.

The backpack collapsed on itself, letting the droid roll forwards on its original legs. A tiny manipulator arm picked up the fallen lightsaber, and held it up to the droid's gaze. With a click, a beam of sky blue crackled to life.

After a moment, he turned it off, and tucked it inside himself. Then he carefully put out the fire before rolling away.


End file.
